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Are Internet Marketing Skills Transferrable?

by Rough Outline
17 replies
Could you be extremely successful at internet marketing (6 figures a year) and use that to get an equally paid day job?

I don't think you could, this is for argument's sake because if you were making 6 figures a year through IM, why would you swap it for a day job?

The point is that even though IM is an extremely serious field, it's not something you can out on your CV and have it received in the same way that previous day job work experience is.
#internet #marketing #skills #transferrable
  • Profile picture of the author Steve B
    I think it all depends on the type of off-line job you're trying to land.

    If you target positions that require IM skills (like working for a company that needs to increase its Internet presence), then I think your past experience is certainly relevant.

    Unfortunately, or maybe not, most IMers quit the industry when they don't have the success they expect and return off-line. The fast food industry accepts them with open arms.

    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author Ken Strong
      The principles of marketing are certainly transferable, so it's possible you could get a regular job in sales or something if you wanted. Like you said, not sure why you'd want to get a job if you're making six figures online, so I don't quite get what the purpose of the thread is.

      Any skill you learn anywhere is potentially transferable for some situations and not others. You could be making six figures as a cosmetic dentist, but not many of those considerable skills will be useful if you decide you want to start making six figures as a lawyer instead.
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      • Profile picture of the author panamacat
        Having originally learned Internet Marketing in a mid-size corporation, I know you can get a 6-figure job managing online marketing programs. You would have to have a great track record in a mix of channels: PPC, coReg, SEO, affiliates and maybe eMail and the ability to manage agencies, because if you are running lots of programs in different channels, you'd probably use specialty agencies for some of all the execution. Companies who know they can get great ROI using internet marketing and spend hundreds of thousands a month on it must have at least one in-house senior manager to run the IM programs.

        You have to have a fantastic head for math, especially analytics, be able to communicate well with executives, and have a stomach for politics.
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  • Profile picture of the author EricMN
    You asked if someone could, when addressed whether they would.

    Could they? If you have a lot of experience and solid results throughout, there are a lot of agencies and firms that are looking for people who can make them more money. If you have the credentials, I'm sure they would take you on.

    As for ''would they'', it's a pro-con thing. What's the offer on the table? If it's better than what I'm doing with IM, then yes, I would.
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  • Profile picture of the author PatrickP
    I would be happy to hire and IMer, who can make me 100K, for 40K
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    • Profile picture of the author Henry White
      Originally Posted by PatrickP View Post

      I would be happy to hire and IMer, who can make me 100K, for 40K
      Affiliates do that, and it's working very nicely for many of them!
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  • Profile picture of the author Fazal Mayar
    It depends on your social skills and as well as skills in the field you are or else, it would be stupid to stop IM for the day job.
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    Blogger at RicherOrNot.com (Make Money online blog but also promoting ethical internet marketing)

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  • Profile picture of the author Andy Fletcher
    I get offered jobs all the time precisely because of the skills that make me so successful at IM.

    Sales, marketing, project management, outsourcing ... the list is endless. They are all highly desirable skills.

    If you think the skills aren't transferable, you're probably working on the wrong ones.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    If you are marketing other people's products, the skills would transfer to a sales and marketing position.

    If you are good at building successful websites, those skills are transferable to a lot of positions.

    If you create your own products and sell them successfully, those skills are also valuable, such as website building, copywriting, marketing, etc.
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    • Profile picture of the author kbailey1734
      I am the director of sales and marketing and I find the skills from Internet Marketing to work in the field on a daily basis. However, I did not receive the job by listing Internet Marketing on my resume.
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  • Profile picture of the author Henry White
    Originally Posted by Rough Outline View Post

    Could you be extremely successful at internet marketing (6 figures a year) and use that to get an equally paid day job?

    I don't think you could, this is for argument's sake because if you were making 6 figures a year through IM, why would you swap it for a day job?

    The point is that even though IM is an extremely serious field, it's not something you can out on your CV and have it received in the same way that previous day job work experience is.
    I doubt many IMer earning 6-figures ever think about returning to the 9-5 rat race or worry about how to include their accomplishments on their CV!
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by Rough Outline View Post

      I don't think you could, this is for argument's sake because if you were making 6 figures a year through IM, why would you swap it for a day job?
      If you were qualified and I was hiring, how much consideration you got would depend on how you answered this question. A lot...
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  • Profile picture of the author primusphilum
    Business is business is business... the rules and tactics are the same and only modified to a minor degree for each industry. Therefore if your imaginary IM wants to go into a brick and mortar business the same rules apply and he/she will be able to apply the knowledge learned to succeed there too.

    IF

    On the other hand your IM wants a "job"...well any monkey can be trained to do that and you don't need to have been a 6 figure IM in a past life :Þ
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  • Profile picture of the author Liam Swift
    I absolutely think that IM skills are transferable to the real world, especially if you're dealing with a 6-figure business.

    Obviously it is a hypothetical question as if you were earning 6-figures through internet marketing, I can't imagine any reason for getting a day-job, even if the salary was comparable, the working conditions certainly would not be.

    But regardless, the numerous skills you would have accumulated through internet marketing would certainly look good on any C.V. in many real-world jobs involving marketing or even business as a whole.
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  • Profile picture of the author shawnAX
    I Look Forward to reading and learning more
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  • Profile picture of the author Alex Copeland
    I know quite a few people that have literally listed the skills that Internet Marketing has given them and landed jobs in top positions as Affiliate Marketing Managers, On-line Marketing Managers, On-line Marketers Executives, Social Marketing Managers and many, many more.

    As things become so dependant on the on-line market it will only get more and more main stream. Jobs based on our skill sets are being invented all the time so show them off
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    I had to work that one in reverse. I had a lot of skills that I had to bring to IM in order to do anything on here. So it doesn't make sense that the reverse isn't true. There are a lot of jobs in the real world that want you to have online skills, website skills, email skils....

    I don't think anything that requires office, marketing, research, communications and that type of skill doesn't transfer back and forth anymore.
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    Sal
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